Please, If You Are Safe and Dry, Think of Those Who are Less Fortunate Right Now.

. . . Stolen, shamelessly, from Jezebel.

How to Donate and Volunteer Responsibly

From FEMA:

• Cash is the most efficient method of donating – Cash offers voluntary agencies the most flexibility in obtaining the most-needed resources and pumps money into the local economy to help businesses recover. Remember, unsolicited donated goods such as used clothing, miscellaneous household items, and mixed or perishable foodstuffs require helping agencies to redirect valuable resources away from providing services to sort, package, transport, warehouse, and distribute items that may not meet the needs of disaster survivors.
  

If you need help in determining who to give to, National Voluntary Organization Active in Disaster website has a list of major non-profits that are active in disaster work or you can make your offer through the National Donations Management Network.

• Donate through a trusted organization – At the national level, many voluntary-, faith- and community-based organizations are active in disasters, and are trusted ways to donate to disaster survivors. In addition to the national members, each state has its own list of voluntary organizations active in disasters. If you’d like to donate or volunteer to assist those affected by Isaac, these organizations are the best place to start.
  

• Affiliate with existing non-profit organizations before coming to the disaster area. Immediately following a disaster, a community can become easily overwhelmed by the amount of generous people who want to help. Contacting and affiliating with an established organization will help to ensure that you are appropriately trained to respond in the most effective way.
  

Here are some volunteer groups FEMA recommends:
www.nvoad.org, www.serve.gov, www.citizencorps.gov, www.networkforgood.org. You can also donate directly via Amazon.

There is also more useful information at the top of the page, under the tab "REACH OUT," and my previous posts with information that might prove helpful are linked here & here.